Blade Arkane
There were some interesting surprises at last night’s Game Awards, and one of the most exciting was the reveal of Arkane’s latest video game. It’s not Dishonored 3, but rather a return to the world of vampires post-Redfall. However unexpected, it looks to be a thrilling venture. The new game will be Blade, a surprising Marvel offering that was featured in an action-free area.
As we looked further into it, we discovered that the game will be third-person, rather than the first-person format of most of Arkane’s previous games. However, something we did not find, strangely, is whether Blade is an Xbox exclusive.
It looks like it should be a no-brainer. Microsoft purchased Arkane as part of the Bethesda/Zenimax deal. Microsoft even released Redfall this year as an Xbox exclusive. However, the Blade trailer indicated no specific platforms and no websites listed any. There seems to be a lack of clarity on whether Blade is actually an Xbox exclusive or not.
Windows Central’s Jez Corden outlined several possible reasons for this confusion, including avoiding any antitrust scrutiny by announcing another exclusive while the Activision deal is ongoing.
Another theory is that the lack of an announcement is a method of promoting “viral marketing” rather than dividing people by console base and thus inviting negativity. However, the most likely answer to me is that Disney and Marvel may still be finalizing the details.
It seems like a tall order for Disney to license a game only to a specific console community, instead of spreading it across all platforms, especially with a new Blade movie on the horizon that this game could create buzz for.
If it’s not a matter of money, then what could be the issue? Is Disney waiting on Microsoft to pay a large amount to make Blade exclusive to Xbox, or is it something else?
